What is The Basketball League?

Good evening! Every basketball team belongs to a league (except for maybe the Harlem Globetrotters). Is the league that your Raleigh Firebirds play in any good? The short answer is yes, but if you want a more detailed answer, keep scrolling.

The Basketball League (TBL) is the largest professional basketball league in North America. Before you call me crazy, I didn’t say they were the best professional league in North America in terms of talent. That would be outlandish, considering the United States and Canada are home to the NBA. In terms of the best basketball talent, here’s a tier system of talent:

1. National Basketball Association (NBA)

2. The NBA’s G-League

3. TBL

4. Other semi-pro leagues (such as ECBL, ABA, etc)

TBL is one level below the NBA G-League, and many TBL alumni who try out for G-League teams make it. A few players from the league have even made it to the NBA, such as Lindy Waters and Craig Sword. It’s extremely common for TBL players to sign contracts with overseas teams after the season is over (a high percentage of Firebirds players do this).

Because there are 52 teams competing in The Basketball League, David and Evelyn Magley (founder and CEO of TBL, respectively), divided up the teams into different conferences. When the league played its inaugural season and there were only eight teams, no such conferences existed. However, with TBL franchises becoming the hottest new commodity, it only made sense to divide teams into conferences based on their geographic location. Otherwise, the Raleigh Firebirds would be traveling to Seattle for a game, followed by a game in Albany the next weekend (yes, that really happened in 2019).

The Firebirds play in the Southeastern Conference, consisting of teams from Virginia down to Florida. Because of the high turnover and new franchises trying to get their foot in the door, the Firebirds are now the longest-tenured member of the Southeastern Conference. In fact, here’s a crazy stat for you:

This year, the Firebirds finished second in the Southeastern Conference out of eight teams. Only one of those teams (the Gulf Coast Lions) existed in the 2022 Southeastern Conference, which consisted of seven teams. Every other team didn’t come back for the 2023 season.

So, we have all these conferences so that players don’t travel ridiculous hours to get to games; but how do the playoffs work with so many teams?

Great question! I’m so glad you asked (emoji). The top two teams in each conference face off in a best-of-three series. The winner from each conference plays the team that won their conference and is the closest to them geographically. It continues through four rounds until we’re left with two teams, battling it out in The Basketball League finals.

In the Firebirds 2019 season, they made it to the league semifinals and were within four points of making it to the TBL Finals. But unfortunately, they weren’t able to continue fighting for “The Lilly,” the name of the prestigious TBL championship trophy.

This year, the Firebirds’ squad is looking stacked, however. If you want to watch this year’s squad fight for The Lilly, then make sure you buy tickets when they become available for sale! And hey, if you go to a game, you can explain to the person sitting in the stands next to you how the TBL and their playoffs work :)

Until next time,

-Tex